May 12, 2010

Crunchy Taco Salad

"For-a-Crowd" Recipes, bell peppers, cheese, Friday, Friday Dinner, Ground Beef, Kids' Favorite Recipes, main dish, Potluck Recipes, Salad, stovetop, Tex-Mex, tomatoes

Presented by

47 ratings

Prep time: 16 minutes
cooking time 15 minutes
Servings: 8
Partner: Mexican Rice Cornbread

Whenever we saw her making this salad, we knew Grandma was having a party.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
3/4 cup water
1 head iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup chopped green onions
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (6-ounce) package corn chips
3/4 cup mild taco sauce or ranch salad dressing

Directions

1

Place ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned and crumbly, about 8 minutes; drain.
2

Add taco seasoning mix and water to ground beef in skillet. Simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 4 minutes.
3

Combine lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes and green onions in a large salad bowl and toss to mix well.
4

Add ground beef mixture, Cheddar and corn chips and toss lightly to mix. Serve with taco sauce or ranch salad dressing.
5

variation
6

Add shredded carrots, cauliflower florets or torn spinach to taste.

Grandma's Secret Trick

Ground round and ground chuck have flavors different from ground beef. Grandpa preferred the flavor of ground chuck to ground beef, so Grandma generally used that. When they both were watching what they ate, they switched to ground round, which offers a lot of flavor and less fat.